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''Amid the din and roar of that fearful battle, his lusty voice rose 
up like thunder."— Chapter 12 



^'oung Folks' Colonial Library 

THE STORY OF 

GENERAL JOHANN DeKALB 



BY 
PERCY K. FITZHUGH 

ILLUSTRATED BY B. M. FAIRBANK 




NEW YORK : 

McLOUGHLIN BROTHERS 



Miffs 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

OCT 101906 

, Cepyrieht Entry 
CLASS A XXcm No. 
COI 



A xxcm 

7 (.(. 



Copyrieht, 1906, by 
McLouGHLiN Brothers, New York 



CHAPTER I 
The First Impoetant Step 

CHAPTER n 
The Smile of France 

CHAPTER HI 
The Secret Mission 

CHAPTER IV 
A Colonial Journey 

CHAPTER V 
The Strange Story of Peter Rugg 



Seeing New York 
News Arrives . 
Wicked Boston 



CHAPTER VI 
CHAPTER VII 
CHAPTER VIII 



CHAPTER IX 
The Baron Loses His Position 

CHAPTER X 
Sir Henry Clinton Makes Plans 

CHAPTER XI 
General Gates Changes His Mind 

CHAPTER XII 
Congress Changes Its Opinion . 



J»>GE 

5 
15 
20 
27 
35 

46 
52 
60 
65 

75 
80 
88 



o STORY OF 

colonies which, at that time, had spread themselves 
along the American shore, for the good housewife, 
Margaret, was busily engaged in cleaning her 
house and setting things to rights, which is the 
time-honored custom of housewiTcs in that spot- 
less land. Exactly what the stalwart Hans did 
with himself as the days went by, I cannot say, 
but we may be certain of, at least, two things, — 
that he was very much down-trodden and op- 
pressed by Royalty and Nobility, and that he 
smoked a long pipe. 

You would not suppose that such unimpor- 
tant people as these would be so bold as to have a 
famous son, but that is exactly what they did, and 
nobody in Germany has been able to explain it 
it or understand it to this very day. In those days 
it was supposed that in order to be a great soldier, 
it would be necessary to begin away back with 
one's great grandfathers and so enter the ranks 
with two or three hundred years' training stored 
up. 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 7 

However this may be, on the 29th of June in 
the year 1721, a child was born to tliis homely pair, 
and they named him John. In the year 1780 
fifty-nine years later, the famous Baron deKalb, 
loaded with glory and honor, laid down his life 
in the service of the Continental Army of Amer- 
ica, and the word went abroad that the great sol- 
dier and the little peasant child were one and tlie 
same. 

When little John was old enough his parents 
sent him to school at Kriegenbroun, but there is 
no account of any remarkable feat of learning 
performed by him while he was there. Pie may 
have been very stupid in his studies like some other 
children who have grown up to win renown. 
When he left school, he sallied forth into the 
great world, trudging along with his peasant's 
blouse and wooden shoes, to earn his living in any 
way that offered. He soon became a butler, and 
for six years history has nothing to teU us of his 
career. We may suppose, however, that he was 



8 STORY OF 

very busy in his humble profession, for the Ger- 
man gentlemen of that time spent most of their 
leisure in eating meals, and it must have required 
practically all of young John's time to get them 
ready and clear them away. 

In the year 1743, our young friend appears 
again with his front name changed from John 
to Jean, and with an aristocratic "de" in front of 
his last name. He has, in some way, become a 
lieutenant in a German regiment of infantry in 
the service of France. And how he has grown! 
He is six feet high, with great broad shoulders, 
and searching eyes, and a splendid forehead, and a 
brave and haughty air. He looks as if he had been 
born to be great. He might have had a title sev- 
eral inches long and carried it with a noble air, 
so proud and handsome was he. How did his 
name get to be "deKalb"? And how did he at- 
tain to his position? We do not know. Surely, 
we are leaving the little thatched roof cottage. 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 9 

with old Hans smoking his pipe and Margaret 
scrubbing and scrubbing, far in the distance. 

Let us follow the ambitious young soldier on 
his rapid career, without tarrying in old Hiitten- 
dorf , for there is much to record between the birth 
of the obscure peasant boy and his glorious end, 
years and years later in a distant land. 

At about this time — the time when young de- 
Kalb appears as a lieutenant in the service of 
France, George Washington was still going to 
school in Virginia, and the American colonies were 
behaving very obediently toward the mother 
country. But the whole of Europe was engaged 
in a fearful conflict, known as the Seven Years' 
War, which the wicked Frederick the Great had 
started. It was in this war that young deKalb 
received his training as a soldier, and fought 
against England, and a few other countries, that 
were arrayed against Prussia and France and their 
friends- In 1747, he was made a captain and ad- 
jutant, an office of great responsibility, but with 



10 STORY OF 

all his military duties, he found time to study and 
familiarize himself with foreign languages and 
mathematics. 

Of course, we cannot follow the history of the 
Seven Years' War, which was a very complicated 
affair indeed, nor can we record the deeds of our 
hero during that bloody and needless conflict, for 
he was only a minor officer, and was kept down 
by his proud and aristocratic superiors. It seems 
scarcely possible that one little man, like Frederick 
the Great, could have caused such an endless 
amount of trouble in the world, but it is an illus- 
tration of how many bad things a man can do and 
how much misery and bloodshed he can cause, if 
he sets about it with all his heart. The Seven 
Years' War was like a contagious fever which 
afflicted all the nations of Europe before it was 
gotten under control. Among other things, Eng- 
land took all the French colonies in America, and 
the upshot of the whole war was to leave England 
very proud and France very humiliated, and the 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 11 

thirteen colonies very much poorer and sadder, 
and Frederick the Great not much better off than 
he had been before. 

During the Seven Years' War, Baron deKalb 
fought bravely in the interest of France, and ac- 
quired a very decided hatred for Great Britain. 
He took part in some very important sieges and 
battles with long German names, and became a 
favorite with one or two of the French officers 
under whom he fought. \Vhen peace came in 1763 
he had risen to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. But 
now the war was over and what was he to do ? Fred- 
erick the Great had gone home to his luxmiant 
castle to write poems and play the flute, for if he 
could not make people miserable in one way he 
was sure to do it in another. England had appro- 
priated the whole of Canada, and dusted the 
French from America and was happy — for the 
time being. The French officers held their per- 
manent positions in the army, but what was to be- 
come of the young adventurer whom they had 



12 STORY OF 

made good use of when they needed him, but whom 
they did not need now? In those days a period of 
peace was about as disastrous as a business panic 
in our own time, and things looked exceedingly 
black for the young soldier, for all the nations 
were at peace with each other, — a very unusual and 
remarkable occurrence. He would fight for Ger- 
many or France, for any nation except England; 
but there was no fighting to be done. Europe 
was taking a rest, and our young hero was 
stranded in Paris without money, without employ- 
ment, and without prospects. It was beginning 
to look very much as if he would have to become 
a butler again when something occurred which we 
must not overlook, for it had a very important 
bearing on his success and character. 

It happened about this time that there lived 
in Paris a wealthy Hollander with his good wife, 
and a fair and accomplished daughter in a Hol- 
land cap. I suppose you know just what is go- 
ing to happen, and of course, you are right. Th^e 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 13 

young soldier visited Paris, and became acquaint- 
ed with the Dutch family in their beautiful resi- 
dence at Courbevoye near the gay city, where he 
deliberately fell in love with the young lady, and 
they were bethrothed during the first winter which 
followed the terrible Seven Years' War, and mar- 
ried in the spring when the wild flowers were 
opening their delicate faces on the bloody battle 
fields where King Frederick had caused so many 
deaths. 

The young couple were very happy. Perhaps, 
as they sat together at their fireside, or wandered 
through the streets of the great French capital, 
the young soldier confided to his bride, the secret 
of how he got the "de" to put in front of his name, 
but if he did, she has never told it to the world. 
Just before they were married, a pension was giv- 
en to the young Baron for his services in the 
French army, and now money and attention be- 
gan to flow in upon him from every direction. 
His fair young Holland wife was very fond of 



14 GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 

him especially when he wore his uniform and tin- 
selled epaulettes, for she was very much like 
young ladies in our time. 

It would be pleasant to linger with the young 
adventurer in his beautiful suburban home; to 
walk with him in his spacious gardens among the 
cultivated friends who gathered about him as the 
days went by, and I am not so sure that it wr nild 
not be quite as agreeable as following his fortunes 
in the Seven Years' War, if they were known to 
us, and reviewing that awful drama which filled 
the continent with widows and orphans, and 
caused such sorrow during those cruel and bitter 
years. But we must hasten to consider the events 
which are shaping themselves abroad and leave 
our young hero to enjoy his happiness wliile he 
may, for it will not last long. 



y^srf^^ 



CHAPTER 11. 



THE SMILE OF FRANCE. 




w 



E have now had a 
glimpse of the 
German peasant who 
joined the Army of France, 
which wanted to punish 
England, which was help- 
ing Prussia, in her war 
against Russia, Austria, 
Sweden and Saxony; and we have seen him come 
safely out of all this to marry a Dutch bride near 
Paris. All is peace at last except that France 
and England are not on speaking terms. When 
things had been going along in this way for a few 
years, the nations of Europe began to notice that 
Great Britain was having a good deal of trouble 



16 



16 STORY OF 

with her unruly American colonies. There was a 
rumor abroad that the mother country 
was acting like a stepmother and that 
the thirteen colonies were seriously con- 
templating the advisability of leaving home alto- 
gether. And the worst of it all, — or rather, I 
should say, the best of it all — was that the rumor, 
unHke many rumors, had a good deal of truth in 
it. England had been oppressing her American 
subjects in many ways, and a wave of indignation 
had swept over the thirteen colonies which threat- 
ened to carry everything before it, and shatter to 
pieces all political ties. Great and wise men had 
risen up among the people in Massachusetts and 
Virginia, and had uttered words which had a very 
rebellious sound in London. It was one thing for 
England to pass acts and laws and another thing 
to apply and enforce them. The people who had 
landed on the bleak, rocky shores of New Eng- 
land, and reared their little homes and churches 
in the wilderness, had somehow come to feel the 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 



17 




He soon had occasion to open his eyes very wide at the amazing 
combination of things which he saw.— Page 26. 



18 STORY OF 

spirit of liberty and to appreciate the splendid 
truth that even common people have some rights. 
They believed that they could attend to their own 
needs and keep house without any royal assist- 
ance, and they did not purpose that the fruits of 
their labor and industry should be sent abroad to 
furnish idle pleasures for a tyrannical king. Of 
course, the spectacle of a few colonies setting 
themselves up in this way was a great novelty 
to the nations of Europe, particularly to the kings 
and nobles. They had never heard of such a thing 
before, and the whole affair seemed preposterous. 
But there was one nation which was having a 
quiet laugh at the state of affairs and that was 
France. Ever since the treaty which had closed 
the recent war, and by which she had had to sac- 
rifice her American possessions to England, she 
had hung her head in defeat and humiliation. 
She had been vanquished in America, and fear- 
fully beaten in Europe, and her proud and chival- 
rous spirit had bowed down in silent shame. Her 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 19 

ships had been driven from the seas, her fine army 
demorahzed, her glorious war record broken and 
scattered to the winds. 

Suddenly she had looked up and beheld the 
proud victor herself in trouble. England, the 
mighty power, unable to manage her own fam- 
ily! Her very colonies shaking their fists across 
the broad Atlantic and defying her and calling 
her king a tyrant and a despot. 

Then it was that France forgot her losses and 
her troubles, and began to smile. If you know 
anything about a French smile, you will realize 
how annoying this must have been to England. 
The smile was polite and genial and aggravating. 
Not a thing did France do but simply smile. The 
French ministry in particular smiled. The 
Duke of Choiseul smiled broadly and said noth- 
ing. 

And time went on. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE SECRET MISSION. 







I 



T is a singular fact that 
the more inquiries 
France made about the 
American colonies, the 
more curious she became. 
Her Minister of State, the 
Duke of Choiseul, was es- 
pecially inquisitive. Any 
news in connection with England's attitude 
toward her colonial subjects was a topic of great 
interest to him, and his ears were open to all the 
continental gossip which was going the rounds of 
Europe. As a rule, it is a very risky and unwise 
thing to interfere in family quarrels, but as every- 
body knows, the French are so delicate and 



20 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 21 

artistic in everything they do that their interest 
in the subject was not suspected outside their own 
political circles. 

During all this time, our young hero was living 
quietly at home, forming many valuable and in- 
fluential friendships, and acquiring a reputation 
for honesty and good sense. 

Finally, the French minister decided to push 
his investigations into American aff*airs still fur- 
ther with a view to ascertaining definitely exact- 
ly how much dissatisfaction existed in the colon- 
ies; whether they were strong enough to resist 

I Great Britain, and whether they cared to do so. 

I 

I For he desired to whisper tempting encourage- 

! ment in their ears if he could feel confident that 

liis offers would be well received. 

Now, it happened that in those days, Holland 

was a great commercial center, her streets filled 

with busy, prosperous merchants, and her many 

wharves lined with trading vessels which plied 

between the Dutch coast and the American col- 



22 STORY OF 

onies. Many a tale of colonial oppression and 
colonial anger and dissatisfaction was whispered 
about among the wealthy buyers of Amsterdam, 
and many a Dutch skipper seated comfortably on 
his ale keg in some public house, puffed away the 
thick smoke that enveloped him from public view, 
and confided to his spell bound bretliren, fearful 
stories of the wicked and rebellious sentiments 
which he had heard openly expressed in good old 
Boston; and narrated many treasonable and dis- 
loyal acts which he had actually seen performed 
in Philadelphia, and even in Dutch New York. 

Of course, the ears of the Duke of Choiseul 
burned to hear these thrilling tales which he knew 
must be true and not imaginary, for he was per- 
fectly well aware that the Dutch had 
no imaginations, and could not invent such things 
to save their lives. So he concluded to send a 
confidential agent into Holland to mingle among 
the traders and sea-faring men there, and acquire 
information about American conditions and 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 23 

affairs. For this delicate and difficult mission 
some one was needed who would not only be at 
ease with "low Dutch", but with high society as 
well, and altogether, the French Minister decided 
that our young friend, the Baron deKalb was 
best fitted for the task. So an offer was made 
him, which he promptly accepted, and set off with 
full instructions and all necessary expenses to the 
land of pipes and wooden shoes. There he visited 
the seaport towns, mingled with merchants and 
sailors, frequented their haunts, listened to their 
gossip and opinions, and became a great favorite 
wherever he was known. Among others he met 
a German, with whom he became great friends. 
This man had spent fifteen years in the colonies, 
and recounted some very startling tales. He told 
the young baron that the colonists were actually 
raising and drilling regiments and collecting mil- 
itary stores and that the British troops in Amer- 
ica were neglecting their duties and behaving 
themselves most scandalously. This was quite 



24 



STORY OF 




Near the bank of the river was a little tavern called the *' Ferry 
Inn," and here the weary travellers paused.— Page 30. 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 25 

terrible, but it was not all. Our young emissary 
learned that the people of Boston had not been 
satisfied with the repeal of the Stamp Act, and 
that great men had come to the front, and were 
talking about liberty saying that all men were born 
equal and many other wicked and ungrateful 
things. He learned about one man in America, 
James Otis, who had a foolish notion that people 
were not called upon to obey laws which they had 
no voice in making, and worst of all, his new ac- 
quaintance confided to him many little things that 
the dangerous Benjamin FrankUn had published 
in his newspaper, and how he had printed right on 
the front page, like an "extra," the treasonable 
words addressed to the colonies : 

'UNITE OR DIET 

He learned also that England was trying to 
keep all this quiet ; was trjang to keep the skeleton 
in the closet, as we say now, in the hope that the 
clouds would clear away and the colonies repent 



26 GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 

their wicked conduct, and go on being taxed with 
cheerful and loyal hearts. All these things did 
young deKalb communicate to his official master 
in Paris, and the official master could scarcely 
contain himself for joy. He at once directed the 
young man to proceed to America, and continue 
his investigations there with great caution and 
secrecy. He was instructed to personally inspect 
the condition of the country, its harbors, ships, 
land forces, resources, weapons, and indeed every- 
thing which could be of any use in case of war. 
He was further instructed to ascertain how the 
colonists felt toward France, and whether they 
might accept a little military help if it were offer- 
ed in the right way. So our young hero set sail 
upon his delicate official errand, and after a long 
and stormy voyage, landed in Philadelphia on the 
12th of January, 1768, where he soon had occasion 
to open his eyes very wide at the amazing condi- 
tion of things which he saw. 



CHAPTER IV. 



A COLONIAL JOURNEY. 




w 



HEN young de- 
Kalb was in 
Amsterdam, he had heard 
that the unjust and cruel 
Stamp Act had been 
generously repealed by 
the mother country, as a 
voluntary concession to the thirteen colonies. 
But he now became acquainted with the inter- 
esting fact that England had yielded in this 
particular not because she wanted to, but because 
she had been forced to. And there is no credit in 
doing a thing because one has to. It turned out 
that the people of Boston had refused to pay any 
duties on goods which they had not ordered, and 



27 



28 STORY OF 

had cast a few British cargoes into the ocean. More 
than this, he saw that the thirteen colonies were 
joining hands and holding indignation meetings 
and organizing regiments and establishing provin- 
cial congresses, and that the British regulars were 
unable to stop these things. When he inquired 
what all these things meant, the good people only 
smiled and said that there was no need for worry ; 
that they loved Great Britain, and were going to 
stand by her. But they loved her in a very pecu- 
liar way, and young deKalb formed this conclu- 
sion before he had lived among them very long. 

Suddenly a man in Boston, one Samuel Adams, 
came forward with the startling announcement 
that he believed the colonies ought to wash their 
hands of the British Government altogether, de- 
clare independence, defy King George, and start 
a brand new station. That was a terribly wicked 
thing to say — awful! Yet it was exactly what 
everybody thought, and what our young ambas- 
sador suspected. From that time on, Samuel 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 29 

Adams, (who, if you believe it, was a Quaker!) 
continued to send off these treasonable sky-rockets 
until others began to do the same thing, and the 
air was filled with patriotic utterances, some of 
which have been handed down through all the 
years, and are dear to the American heart now. 

All this news was sent by letter to the Duke of 
Choiseul, who showed it to the French king, who 
forthwith became so exceedingly happy that he 
scarcely knew what to do. 

Before very long, our traveller left Philadel- 
phia for New York, which is a pleasant journey 
of one hour and fifty minutes in these busy times, 
but which was such a difficult and serious under- 
taking then that at the end of three days of hard 
travelling in the rattling old stage coach they had 
only reached Trenton, the present capital of New 
Jersey, which is not half way. Here the broad 
Delaware River, thick with cakes of ice, stretched 
before the little party with whom deKalb was 
travelling. The night was dark and not a star in 



30 STORY OF 

all the broad expanse of sky above them could be 
seen. The wind blew furiously, and the night 
was icy cold. Near the bank of the river was a 
little tavern called the * 'Ferry Inn," and here the 
weary travellers paused It was a cozy place, to 
be sure, for tired wayfarers on such a night. The 
blaze in the chimney danced merrily, reflecting 
its brightness on the worn but spotless floor. 
Goodly mugs and steins of pewter stood about on 
shelves and a shuttle board, — that famous friend 
of idle hours in those good old days, was ready 
for their entertainment. The many little square 
panes of glass rattled in their lose frames in the 
window, as if they intended to come tumbling out 
any minute in obedience to the gale. The host, 
in his hose and knickerbockers, and wearing a 
spotless apron, received them with great warmth, 
and they sat about the fireside a while, and listen- 
ed to the talk of an old man, who had been re- 
hearsing stories of his youth to the genial pro- 
prietor. 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 31 

"It was just such a night a this," said he, "sev- 
enty-six years ago that I was born and — " 

"And he remembers it well," interrupted the 
host, with a great laugh. 

"No, I don't remember it," smiled the old man, 
"but I remember how the parson told me when I 
grew a little, how he had rode through the woods 
that night to my father's house, to pray for my 
soul before it was an hour old, and I remember 
vhow I had to learn to say, *God bless our gracious 
sovereign, William, Prince of Orange and his 
gracious queen!' That night the parson heard 
a sound in those woods which set his nerves in a 
shudder. It was the wife of Goodman Proctor, 
who had turned witch, and was shrieking above 
the tree tops, and shaking bits of snow down up- 
on the parson's doublet, and calling to him, and 
trying to win him over to the devil." 

"You do not say *God bless the King!' now," 
observed young deKalb. 

"No," replied the old man, "We've grown since 



32 



STORY OF 




A rickety old chaise cart could be seen coming toward us, drawn 
by a wild-looking bay horse. — Page 35. 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 33 

then, and William of Orange was a different sort 
of king than George the Third. They're talk- 
ing of independence now. When I was a boy a 
man would hang for it as quick as they'd hang 
a witch, which they hung twenty of hereabouts." 

Then there was a pause. 

"Do you think the river might be crossed to- 
night?" asked young deKalb, of the host. The 
proprietor walked to the window, and washed 
away the melting frost with his sleeve, and glanc- 
ed outside. 

"It's a blustering night," he replied, "but that 
would not keep me if I was set on my journey's 
end. Nobody has crosed tonight that I can re- 
member except Peter Rugg, and he did not stop 
here." 

"Did he go alone?" inquired young deKalb. 
At this there was a hearty laugh, and the old 
man raised his head and said, 

"No," he never goes alone; he had his little 
boy with him. He's a great traveller. Wait a 



34 GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 

little till the wind dies down as it may do, and our 
friend here will tell you the story of Peter Rugg 
while you rest, for all travellers should know him; 
they'll meet him soon or late if they travel long 
enough; eh, William!" and he poked the old man j 
very knowingly in his aged ribs. 

"Tell us the tale, then," said young deKalb, 
"for I'm something of a traveller myself, and 
have been about in many lands." 

So they all gathered closer about the fire, and 
the old man recounted the strange tale which I 
do not pretend to explain, but simply record 
faithfully, while our young hero and his friends 
are waiting for the hurricane to subside. 




CHAPTER V 



THE STRANGE STORY OF PETER RUGG. 




I 



WAS once on a jour- 
ney from Boston to 
New York about twenty 
years ago," began the old 
man, "when a heavy rain 
commenced to fall which 
beat into the coach and 
wet me and chilled me through. It was a 
dark night like this one, and we were passing 
through the Connecticut country. A Boston 
merchant was by my side, and we discoursed 
agreeably despite the heavy rain, for there was 
nothing to do but put a good face to it. Sud- 
denly, we heard a fearful rattling in the distance, 
and in a moment a rickety old chaise cart could 
be seen coming toward us, drawn by a wild-look- 

35 



36 STORY OF 

ing bay horse. As it neared our stage, we could 
see that it contained a httle, shrivelled up old man 
whose face was a network of wrinkles, and who 
had a very anxious and excited look in his eyes. 
Beside him was a little round faced boy, wrapped 
up in a great cloak, and blinking from the rain 
which was dripping into his eyes from his wet hair, 
and beating into his face with the driving wind. 

" 'Pray, sir, said the old man, 'can you point 
me the way to Boston?" 

" 'Boston is thirty miles ahead of you,' I replied 

" 'How can you deceive me so ! said the old man, 
'Are we not now approaching Salem?' 

" 'Salem is in the other direction,' I replied. 

" *It is above Boston; you must pass through 
Boston to get to Salem.' 

"The old man looked perplexed; " 'Then I shall 
not reach Boston tonight,' said he, sadly, and whif 
ping up his horse, he drove on. The weather now 
became frightful, and the wind beat more furi- 
ously than before. Black clouds gathered in the 






GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 37 

sky and the rolling mumblings of the thunder 
could be heard until the day broke. 

"When we reached New York, I stopped at the 
King's Arms Tavern, and happened to tell the oc- 
currence of the old man to a party of men who 
were gathered there. 

" 'I make no doubt,' said one of them, *that it 
was Peter Rugg on his way home.' 

" *And who may Peter Rugg be? said I. 

" *Why,' said my friend, 'that I know no more 
than you except that he is on his way home to Bos- 
ton, and has been travelhng there these twenty 
years, and never reached it. It is always raining 
when you meet him; the storm sems to follow 
him everywhere.' 

"After transacting my business in New York, 
I set upon my journey home in the Boston coach, 
and sat outside, the weather being raw, but clear, 
and conversed with a tithing man who had been 
in Mr. Mather's church. In our conversation, I 
related to him the incident of the old man, and he 



38 STORY OF 

informed me that many travellers had encountered 
him with his little boy, and that he always travelled 
in a storm. I thought the tale a remarkable one, 
but forgot it in more important things, until not 
long after, I was at a tavern in Newbur^^port, 
above Boston, when it came on to rain heavily at 
night, and blew so that the shutters banged back 
and forth and limbs broke from the trees. As I 
was looking from the window, watching the storm, 
a rattling chaise cart came dashing along the road 
and drew up at the door. I went from the house 
to where the panting horse stood and beheld the 
veritable old man that I had seen on my journey 
to New York, and by his side, the little boy whose 
face looked out from the great cloak that covered 
his head, like the moon from a dark sky. 

" *Pray, sir,' said the old man, in a very cracked 
voice, *will you be so good as to direct me to Bos- 
ton, as I have lost my bearings in the storm ; I have 
journeyed along this road since afternoon.' 

" *If that be the case,' quoth I, *you have come 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 39 

right through Boston; you are travelling north 
now, and leaving Boston far in the distance.' 

" * Impossible!' said the old man, scratching his 
head, *that could not have happened.' 

" 'You probably drove through the town with- 
out noticing it,' I suggested; *it is a dark night.' 

The old man thought. *It is very discouraging 
said he. Very discouraging, for time is precious,' 
and the weather very bad.' 

" 'Will you not stop, said I, 'till the storm sub- 
sides ?' 

" 'No,' he replied, 'I have not a moment to lose,' 
and turning his horse about, he gave the animal a 
smart crack with his whip, and went dashing back 
in the direction from which he had come. After 
he had gone, the rain ceased to fall, and the stars 
came out, and the wind died down, so that the 
night was very fair. 

"I was now much concerned over this strange 
traveller, who haunted the roads and carried wind 
and rain with him, and told the story inside the 



40 



STORY OF 




He heard the public utterances of the famous patriots, and talked 
with them without revealing his identity or his mission. — P. 63- 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 41 

tavern where it excited much comment from those 
who had heard of the strange driver and his httle 
child. One man, who had been toll-keeper at a 
bridge near Boston, related that the mysterious 
traveller had often passed his gate at night and 
never stopped to pay the toll, so intent wias he on 
reaching his destination, which he never seemed to 
do though he often passed right through it in his 
flight, with the wind and rain playing behind him 
as he sped along. 

* 'Another fellow — a roistering rogue, who made 
a custom of staying about the inn, related how he 
I had once been at a tavern not far from Hartford, 
on a pleasant evening, when it came up suddenly 
to rain in torrents ; how he noticed that the crooked 
lightning which played about in the sky once 
made the letters, P. R., and how in a few moments 
afterwards, the old man in his ricketv chaise came 
dashing along with a wild look in his eyes and urg- 
ing his horse on as if his soul's life depended on it. 
Thinking to stop him, the fellow seized a large 



42 STORY OF 

saddle which hung on the door post, and hurled it 
smartly at the flying driver, but it took no effect, 
as my friend informed me that it passed straight 
through the body of old Peter, without jarring 
him at all, and that the saddle still may be seen 
lying on the oposite side of the road to the tavern, 
for no one has dared to lay hands to it from that 
day to this, believing it to be bewitched. 

"Another man, the keeper of the tavern, seemed 
not to be much stirred at all this, for he had direct- 
ed the storm-breeding traveller, as he was called, 
many times, and believed him to be real flesh and 
blood, though he could offer no solution to the end 
less journey which the strange pair had been mak- 
ing through all the New England country. On 
one occasion, he said, after a certain fair summer 
day, the sky had suddenly become threatening and 
a fearful storm had burst as night came on, when 
shortly, Peter Rugg with his chaise and little boy, 
came dashing along the road, and inquired wheth- 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 43 

er he was not in Boston, and where he could find 
Middle Street. 

"On hearing this, I resolved to visit Middle 
Street when I should next have occasion to be in 
that way, and inquire for the mysterious Peter 
among the dwellers there. So I visited a Mrs. Dyer 
in that neighborhood, and learned that a man 
named Rugg had lived hard by her a score of years 
before, who had the habit of swearing terribly 
when he was angered, though otherwise a very vir- 
tuous man. She further said that when he lost his 
temper, no power could control him, and that he 
was often seen to turn somersaults in his rage, 
thereby swearing in a circle — a novel method, 
never in use before — and that the atmosphere 
from his denunciations and threats frequently be- 
came so thick that it was necessary to open the 
windows so that his wrath might be the better ven- 
tilated. However true or false this may be, her 
husband, who was a deacon in the South Church, 
informed me that Peter's hat was often seen to 



44 STORY OF 

rise high above his wig, sometimes to the extent 
of fifteen inches, driven by the force and magni- 
tude of his oaths. 

"On one occasion, so Mrs. Dyer informed me, 
Peter Rugg had driven with his Httle boy, to Con- 
cord for some feed, when a fearful storm arose 
and he stopped at a farmer's house on the way 
back, w^here he was urged to remain over night, 
for the sake of the little boy who might take cold, 
being in an open wagon in the midst of such a 
storm. She related how the farmer's wife had 
given out that Peter Rugg had brought his clin- 
ched fist down on the table cursing the rain, and 
saying that he would drive home that very night, 
or he would never drive home; and that he forth- 
with, turned three somersaults in the air, and 
danced such a jig that the glass fell out of the win- 
dow. 

"And the rain-storm took old Peter at his word, 
for he has been travelling the country from that 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 45 

day to this, always followed by a mocking storm, 
and never reaching home. 

"His wife waited in vain for many years, and 
then died in good old age, and was buried in Mr. 
Mather's Church. The little boy has never 
grown an inch and never had anything to eat, 
as far as people know. 

"I cannot certify the truth of Mrs. Dyer's tale, 
but this I can say with right good certainty that 
no honest inn keeper will contradict it; that 
Peter Rugg is still travelling about the country, 
inquiring the way to Boston, with his two attend- 
ants, the rain and his little boy, and that he passed 
through here this very night, scarce an hour ago." 





CHAPTER VI 

Seeing New Yoek. 

'^nriHAT is the most 
1 remarkable piece 
of information I have 
ever heard," said young 
Baron deKalb. "I ex- 
pect to visit Boston be- 
fore many days, and I 
shall investigate these 
strange facts personally while there." 

Whether he ever found time to do so, I cannot 
say, but when he reached his home, he related the 
singular story to his wife, who had no explanation 
to give except that America was a queer place, 
and that ever since the days of Hendrick Hud- 
son very extraordinary things has been occur- 
ring there. 
For my part, I am incimed to doubt some few 

46 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 47 

points in the tale. The incident of the little boy 
never growing up in twenty years is rather a sus- 
picious circumstance, and the fact that he never 
caught cold in all that time is a little odd. There 
is one thing, however, which recommends the 
story very strongly, and that is the part played 
by the rain-storm. Of this I can only say that 
if nature would but make it her constant practice 
to take men at their word on all occasions, it 
would be an excellent thing for the world in 
general. 

Before long the wind died down a little, and 
the party decided to cross the stream with their 
coach and horses on a high raft, and proceed on 
the journey toward New York. There were 
five men and four horses to go, and it was not 
without regret that the little party of travellers 
left the cozy tavern with its crackling wood fire 
and enlivening talk, and wrapping their cloaks 
about them, made their way to the makeshift 
craft which was to bear them across the river. 



48 STORY OF 

It soon transpired that though the wind expe- 
rienced a sinking spell, it had not by any means 
died, for it rose up again with increased vigor 
and by the time the voyagers were in mid stream, 
it howled around them with relentless fury. Be- 
fore long, the helpless craft was driven with aw- 
ful force upon a little rocky island in the middle 
of the broad river. The horses were drowned 
and all the baggage and provisions lost. The 
little party climbed up on the rocky island, and 
mingled their voices in a lusty call for help, 
which they hoped might be heard on shore. But 
the moaning of the wind drowned their calls. 
Again and again, they cried aloud, but the wild 
and merciless hurricane only mocked their feeble 
efforts. They could see the flickering lights of 
the distant tavern, small but cheerful, through 
the heavy snow which now began to fall, and blow 
into drifts around them. Huddled together on 
those bleak rocks, they beat their arms and moved 
their feet to keep from freezing. All night long, 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 

they waited thus as the hours wore away, until 
when morning came, two of the number had died 
and the rest were found unconscious and benumb- 
ed in the thick snow, and taken to the shore, where 
they were cared for at a neighboring house until 
they were able to proceed on their journey. 

In New York, the young Baron noted the con- 
ditions with a keen eye. There were many 
Germans there, and his visit was filled with inter- 
est and pleasure. The feeling of the colonists 
was hard to understand. They were all looking 
forward to independence, but were not just then 
prepared to go to war. The young agent seemed 
to have eyes in the back of his head. He saw 
things which the average foreigner would never 
have noticed. He did nothing but look and listen 
and ask questions and communicate his opinions 
and discoveries to the Duke in France. 

He saw that the people of New York were 
prosperous and independent, and that they enter- 
tained some very novel opinions on the question 



50 STORY OF 

of government. He visited Kings' College, now 
Columbia, and saw that young men were being 
educated there, and that the infant seat of learn- 
ing was sending forth its scholars and thinkers 
to promulgate the conviction, so strange to for- 
eign ears, that all men are created equal. He 
visited the public houses where the Sons of Liber- 
ty were wont to gather, and heard the British 
Parliament denounced in many a mug of sizzling 
flip. He saw the matron and the maid, as well 
as the staid but patriotic spinster, abstaining from 
the delectation so temptingly presented in the 
fragrant cup of tea, because that article was sub- 
ject to exorbitant taxation. He saw the good 
citizens making sacrifices on every hand for the 
sake of principle and example. He saw them 
going without imported goods — their patriotic 
wives and daughters giving up the fashions and 
furbelows of worldly London and appearing in 
homespun. He perceived the fair damsels at the 
critical period of sweet sixteen, when enticing 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 51 

raiment was most of all to be desired, shorn of 
all their treasured and cherished fineries; the jew- 
eled earring, the beruffled petticoat, the silken 
love-hood, the bewitching stomacher; of every- 
thing engaging and alluring except their graceful 
courtesies, and those were not imported. Truly, 
these sacrifices constituted a noble martp^dom 
indeed, and were a glorious illustration to the 
French ambassador, of the patriotic feeling which 
pervaded the entire colony. 




CHAPTER VII 



NEWS ARRIVES 




o 



NE afternoon, our 
secret agent bent 
his steps in the direction of 
the Province Arms Tavern 
to secure his transportation 
to Boston. There was no 
coach Hne between the two 
towns at that early date, 
sc that it was customary for travellers to 
accompany the post-boy on horse-back, and 
this official custodian of the Colonial mail 
was very frequently the leader of a motley 
equestrian procession as he made his way between 
the Puritan capital and the Dutch metropolis. 
Ah, how many a love letter, breathing tender 

12 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 53 

hopes through its decorous phrase, languished 
in the doublet of the ever welcome post boy, or 
perchance beneath his pillion as he urged his tired 
steed through the sombre forests of New Eng^ 
land on his all important errand; and ah, how 
many pensive maidens gathered in the place of 
his arrival and watched with wistful counte- 
nances the distribution of the packages and mis- 
sives which had been entrusted to him as he pas- 
sed from village to village on his perilous journey 
of a week. And thrice envied was the proud 
landlord at whose inn the post boy made his sta- 
tion. 

The landlord of the Province Arms was stand- 
ing upon his doorstep clad in a white apron and 
a spacious smile which effectually set off the up- 
per and lower ends of his capacious form. The 
fields and trees about the hostelry had thrown off 
their garments of winter, and, faithful to the uni- 
versal fashion of the season, had decked them- 



54 STORY OF 

selves in abundant green. The weather was mild 
and pleasant. Beneath the stately trees sat lit- 
tle groups of men talking and smoking over 
their mugs of cider which were replenished at in- 
tervals by a dextrous little boy, who went dancing 
in and out of the door with a tray cunningly bal- 
anced on either hand. Now and then a merry 
laugh would fill the air. The drowsy smoke 
from pipes curled idly up through the leaves 
above, making its aimless journey in the summer 
air and dissolving into nothing. Several horses 
were tied to the trees below and grazed content- 
edly on the unkept lawn. The scene was one of 
peacefulness. 

Mine host, Master Burns, was contemplating 
his array of guests, his hands planted upon his 
hips and his eyes contracted into a squint, for the 
sun dazzled them, and he was trying to locate a 
particular figure among the several groups. 
Finally he called, and one of them turning, said, 

"What now?" 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 55 

*'I say is there any sign of the boy?" replied 
Master Burns. 

"No." 

"He's a day past due." 

"Maybe he's kept in Hartford." 

"He doesn't wait in Hartford," replied the 
host. "More like he's kept in Boston by Gage's 
troops. Here's a score of people waiting about 
to go back with him and the horses to be fed and 
kept." 

"My good man," said the Baron de Kalb ap- 
proaching the porch, "I want to add another one 
to that score of travellers, for I'm going to Bos- 
ton by the next post." 

"Lord bless me," quoth the host, "Boston's 
like a kettle boiling over now, and every one as 
can is keeping away from there. I doubt they've 
kept the boy himself there to go through his let- 
ters and packets to spy out rebel plots as they 
call 'em." 



56 STORY OF 

"Did I hear you say that General Gage's 
troops were in Boston?" said de Kalb. 

"Yes, to be sure," returned the host, "they're 
quartered on the common, for they can't get 
lodgings in the town. Boston's in a high state ; 
why do you go there?" 

By this time, several loiterers and one or two 
lazy looking indians and negroes had gathered 
about the baron and were eyeing him as if he were 
a very suspicious personage. 

"Still, I must go to Boston," he insisted, "and 
I want to go by the next post, if may be." 

"Well, then," said the host, "there's a horse in 
this stable you can have, and you'll have to pay 
half in advance now which is one pound o' His 
Majesty's money, and turn the horse over to Mr. 
Winslow when you get to the King Arms in Bos- 
ton, which you'll be responsible for him until he's 
turned over safe; but don't turn him over until 
Mr. Winslow gives you one pound which you'll 
give the boy to bring here ; and may yer make yer 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 57 

stay there safe without being shot for a rebel. 

This last apprehensive greeting was not at all 
encouraging to our foreign agent but he soon 
forgot the dangers of his projected sojourn in a 
cold fowl and a bottle of sack which mine host 
supplied and in the edifying conversation which 
accompanied the refreshment as a sort of verbal 
sauce. For when the baron had seated himself 
before the regaling fare in the long spotless room 
of the Province Arms, Master Burns confided to 
his unknown guest many facts which he had 
learned from the distinguished worthies who were 
wont to hold their meetings at his house and dis- 
cuss Colonial affairs and cogitate on the oppres- 
sive actions of Great Britain. 

Before long, however, the hangers on about the 
place could be seen through the window to be 
leaving their comfortable seats, and other faces 
could be seen outside, and all seemed excited and 
in great expectation. Men and women without 
hat or headdress, and scantily clothed, came rush- 



58 STORY OF 

ing over the lawn, quite breathless, and gathered 
into little groups about the door. Children came 
bounding from the road and calling, "He is 
here, he is here!" at the top of their voices, 
careered about the porch as if they were on 
springs. Yells and shouts could be heard in the 
distance, until a great cloud of dust came rolling 
up the highway and out of it, as from a magic- 
ian's hat, a horse and rider dashed from the road 
and up the spacious lawn. And there stood the 
belated post-boy, dusty and travel-stained, the ob- 
served of all observers, taking off his hat in a very 
ostentatious manner, and basking in all his local 
glory and popularity. 

"The governor has ordered the Assembly to 
adjourn and threatened 'em with Gage's troops!" 
he called, when he had gained his breath. Then 
he threw his large bag, with its precious contents, 
straight at Master Burns' head, and there was a 
great scramble for it by the few who were stand- 
ing near the landlord. 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 59 

"Then things have come to a fine pass!" thun- 
dered Master Burns," and I agree with Mr. 
Adams that the time has come to strike." 

"It's an outrage," cried one woman, "and the 
King's a tyrant, and the governor in Boston is a 
villain and a coward and a despot. What did 
the men of the Assembly do when they adjourn- 
ed?" 

"What did they do when they adjourned?" 
roared the post-boy, dismounting and stretching 
I himself. "Did yer hear that ; what did they do 
\ when they adjourned! Why they didn't adjourn; 
I they just kept right on sitting and passing reso- 
I lutions to raise troops — and they're sitting yet — 
I the Lord bless 'em!" 

I And then there was a lusty shout from every- 
body present, and the Baron de Kalb thought 
it was high time for him to visit the New Eng- 
land storm centre and congratulated himself 
right heartily that he had engaged a horse. 



CHAPTER VIII 



WICKED BOSTON 




H 



E found Boston, 
the most dis- 
obedient and unruly city 
in the colonies. There 
the good people told him 
how they loved the 
mother country ; how 
nothing could separate 
them; and when they winked, and the baron 
notified the Duke of Choiseul of these winks and 
the Duke notified the king — for a wink means a 
great deal in France even now, and had a 
great political significance in good old colonial 
Boston. 

The baron noticed that there was a very re- 
spectable collection of military stores in Concord 



60 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 



61 




The little French Marquis and the gigantic German Baron 
strode into Philadelphia. — Page 72. 



62 STORY OF. 

He heard the pubhc utterances of the famous pat- 
riots, and talked with them without reveahng 
his identity or his mission. He made up his mind 
that war between England and her American pos- 
sessions was inevitable, and that when the wrath 
of the colonists broke forth unrestrained, the spec- 
tacle of righteous indignation would be terrible 
but glorious to behold. He saw that England 
was getting to the end of her rope ; that the limit 
of colonial patience was nearly reached, and that 
when this patience was exhausted, there would be 
an explosion. All this, he communicated to his 
superiors abroad, who were exceedingly tickled 
at the state of affairs and began to cogitate on 
many plans. 

But just now a very serious piece of informa- 
tion came to our young friend. He learned that 
his letters to France were being opened by the 
British authorities in the colonial post office. 
Every one which the Duke of Choiseul had re- 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 63 

ceived bore a broken seal. Ah, to what depths will 
men and even nations sink when haunted by secret 
apprehension and by silent fears ! The young baron 
discontinued sending letters to his masters, re- 
solved to complete his tour as quickly as he could, 
and sail for home. Having become an object of 
suspicion he could scarcely hope to accomphsh 
more for he knew not who were enemies and who 
were friends, nor how much false and misleading 
information might be put in his way. Nor did he 
need to inquire further than he had done already. 
He knew that the little settlements of the western 
world were coming to be a mighty power ; mighty 
in wealth and resources ; mighty in their vast ex- 
panse of fertile country; mighty in the virtues 
which their stern and useful lives had implanted in 
them; mighty in the bonds which were drawing 
them together and forming them into a central 
government. It was the grandest spectacle of his- 
tory, and it inspired young deKalb. He went home 
full of admiration for the new land ; thrilled with 



64 GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 

the spirit of liberty and justice that pervaded it, 
and he sang the praises of America to the King of 
France. He told the Duke of Choiseul that the 
thirteen colonies were travelling headlong toward 
their destiny. He prophesied that England 
would soon lose every inch of territory which she 
then possessed in North America, and thousands 
of men, and millions of pounds sterling besides. 

And then the King of France could not contain 
himself, but laughed right merrily, and all his 
ministers and courtiers, like the faithful subjects 
that they were, laughed too, for it was a grea*^ joke 
to be sure. 




CHAPTER IX 



THE BARON LOSES HIS POSITION 




T 



HE French Gov- 
ernment was now 
resolved to aid the colonial 
rebellion whenever it 
should break forth. The 
cautious Duke of Choiseul 
did not care to anticipate 
nor hasten the event how- 
ever, but preferred to wait patiently, and let the 
quarrel of England with her colonies take its 
course. You may wonder why the government 
of France was so interested in American affairs, 
and so apparently anxious that the colonies 
should rebel against their poHtical mother across 
the sea. It is important, therefore, for you to 
kaow what probably you have already discerned. 



65 



66 STORY OF 

that it was not a generous, patriotic impulse 
which impelled the King of France and his 
shrewd minister, but merely a feeling of national 
spite against their rival which induced them to 
seek, in the thirteen colonies, an avenue which 
might lead to sweet revenge. But you must not 
suppose that this unworthy feehng prompted 
our hero and his loyal friend, young Lafayette, 
to fight in the cause of colonial independence. 
For when they came, they came as private citi- 
zens and volunteers. And this is why their 
names are reverently inscribed in American his- 
tory. 

It now transpired that as the Duke of Choiseul 
had no further use for our friend, deKalb, the 
ambassador was thrown out of employment, for 
the great duke could see no use for extending 
any courtesies or favors to a faithful servant for 
past services. So the baron was pohtely told 
that he "was through," as they say in courteous 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 67 

New England, when employees are discharged, 
and he proceeded to his home. He soon pur- 
chased a new estate, with spacious gardens, and 
winding gravel paths, and settled down again to 
live a tranquil life with his wife and children 
among these pleasant scenes. Here, under the 
spreading blossom laden trees, he might be seen 
by passers by, seated on some rustic bench, or 
rambling among the favorite haunts in his large 
park. Perhaps amid these pleasant surround- 
ings, he recounted to his wide-eyed little listeners, 
some of the mysterious legends which he had 
heard on the far off shores of Am.erica, where 
witches and goblins were supposed to inhabit the 
dark forests and lonely shores. However, this 
may be, the months and years wore on, and 
brought with them the important events which 
they had foretold. While our hero was leading 
this peaceful happy Ufe among the fair surround- 
ings of his beautiful home, amid the birds and 
flowers, with his loving wife and children to fill 



68 STORY OF 

his days with quiet and contentment, Louis the 
Fifteenth was cutting high capers in his royal 
palace at Versailles. He was so busily engaged 
in enjoying himself that he lost his head complete- 
ly and forgot all about his duties as the King of 
France. In the whirl of merry dances, his royal 
crown fell off, and finally, becoming exhausted, 
he lay down and died, this being the first impor- 
tant and serious thing he had been known to do 
in seven years. Of course, he had forgotten all 
about America and his foreign policy, and such 
tedious details, but the Duke of Choiseul had 
kept his keen eye fixed on the turbulent colonies 
across the ocean. 

It befell now that Louis the sixteenth became 
King, who, after a rather troublous reign, lost 
hLs head in an entirely different manner than his 
predecessor, for he was guillotined in the French 
Revolution. He revived, hoA\'ever, the interest 
of his government in colonial affairs, and the in- 
tention to render aid to the oppressed subjects 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 



69 




He suiFered with the starving Continental army in its bleak and 
snow-bound huts at Valley Forge. — Page 75. 



70 STORY OF 

of Great Britain, if a favoimWc occasion should 
present itself. 

In 1775, the thirteen colonies rose up in their 
wrath, from under the foot of British tyranny, 
and defied King George the Third. 

Then came the skirmishes at Concord and Lex- 
ington, the battle of Bunker Hill, the siege of 
Boston and the disastrous efforts of the patriots 
to conquer Canada. 

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence 
shook the world and the thirteen colonies came 
forward on the great stage as an independent 
nation. 

But before this the Baron deKalb had left his 
home to join the fight against Great Britain. He 
had made the acquaintance of the Marquis-de-La- 
fayette, and they had resolved to sail for America 
together and offer their services to the Contin- 
ental Army. So while the high dignitaries of 
France were unrolling great balls of red tape 
in their solemn council chamber, and making res- 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 71 

olutions and unmaking them, and while His 
Royal Majesty was considering how much 
France could gain by a treaty of alliance with 
America, these two noble men of action buckled 
on their swords, and left their homes to join the 
patriots who were battling against the most power- 
ful nation on the globe. 

The Marquis de Lafayette was young and 
dashing, filled with enthusiasm and the spirit of 
liberty. The Baron deKalb was older, more 
thoughtful, more experienced, and with a scien- 
tific military training which the cruel Seven Years' 
War had furnished him, and such as no American 
general at the time possessed. His frame was 
enormous and his fierce eyes looked out from 
under his heavy forehead and dark lashes like the 
eyes of an eagle. His lips closed as firmly as 
the jaws of a steel vice. His presence was au- 
gust and terrible. He was taller than General 
Washington himself, and his haughty mien and 
soldierly presence gave him the appearance of 



72 STORY OF 

some ancient gladiator or fabled giant. His look 
was indeed formidable enough, one might sup- 
pose, to frighten away an entire army. 

In the month of September, these two men, 
the little French marquis, and the gigantic Ger- 
man baron, strode into Philadelphia, the colonial 
capital, where the Continental Congress was in 
session. That patriotic body was then in much 
perplexity over the distribution of military com- 
missions. For America had never conducted a 
regular international war before; it was some- 
thing entirely novel, and everybody wanted to be 
a general. Applications were pouring in from 
all sides like answers to an advertisement, and it 
began to look as if there would be no ordinary 
soldiers in the army, so anxious were the good 
men of the day to be its leaders. They did not 
seem to realize the truth of Mr. Gilbert's saying, 
that, "when everyone is somebody, then no one's 
anybody," and they clamored about the doors of 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 73 

old Independence Hall for military ranks and 
titles. 

In this predicament the Congress found it 
rather difficult to give appropriate military rank 
to distinguished foreigners. If they had thought 
twice before appointing Gates and Lee as major 
generals, the cause of independence would have 
been far better off, but they chose to honor these 
two unscrupulous Englishmen and to slight the 
brave and generous volunteers who had just ar- 
rived from France. Lafayette, therefore, be- 
ing a young man of fortune, volunteered to serve 
without pay, and attached himself to the com- 
mander-in-chief, who also received no money 
for his glorious services, and their names are 
henceforth associated with each other through- 
out the war. Before long the wise men of Con- 
gress and even the continental generals became 
convinced that they could not afford to let a 
soldier like deKalb slip through their hands, for 
he had a miHtary education such as none of them 



74 GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 

could claim, and they forthwith tendered to 
him a commission as Major General in the Con- 
tinental Army, and by this title he is known to 
us as one of the bravest and most loyal and 
efficient soldiers that ever fought under our be- 
loved flag. 




CHAPTER X 



SIR HENRY CLINTO'N MAKES PLANS 




THE story of our 
hero from this 
point on, would be, in 
truth, a history of the re- 
maining years of the old 
war. He soon became a 
^i* great admirer of Wash- 
ington, and sang the 
1 praises of the commander-in-chief in all his let- 
I ters home. His advice was sought and followed 
I by the chief and by the other generals in every 
j important move. He fought in those fierce and 
I fruitless battles which were waged to prevent 
I the British troops from entering Philadelphia, 
; and he suffered with the starving Continental 
army in its bleak and snow bound huts at Valley 

75 



76 STORY OF 

Forge. He found that fighting in America was a 
very different thing from leading the well- 
trained regiments which were arrayed against 
Frederick of Prussia in the Seven Years' War. 

It was then the dark period of the War for In- 
dependence, when failure and defeat and poverty 
and suffering had filled the land with gloom. 
The prospect, so bright at first, had faded into 
deep despair. There was no money with which 
to carry on the war; ammunition was scarce and 
provisions almost gone. In the midst of these 
discouraging conditions, news arrived that France 
had made up her mind at last, to give the colonies 
a lift by sending a splendid fleet to be placed 
at their disposal. 

It was then that Sir Henry Clinton, the Brit- 
ish commander, decided to direct his attentions 
to the South where no important battles had been 
fought, and to end the war, if possible, by con- 
quering the Southern colonies. For while the 
Americans had not accomplished much in the 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 77 

neighborhood of New York, nor ousted the proud 
baronet from his pleasant quarters there, still Sir 
Henry's army had very little to show for all their 
running about in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 
and on the whole His Excellency thought that it 
would be wise to press the war more vigorously 
in the South, where a diversion under Lord Corn- 
wallis was encamped. 

In May, 1780 Charleston, South Carolina, was 
surrendered to the British after a bitter siege, and 
all the continental soldiers in that city became pris- 
oners of war. It was a great victory for the 
Britisli army and a terrible disaster to the patriots. 
South Carolina was invaded from every quarter 
by reinforcements of the enemy. The inhabit- 
ants were forced to join the British army or to 
flee the country. Their homes were burned or 
pillaged, and every cruelty and outrage was per- 
petrated by the army of King George the Third. 
Families were separated; women and children 
were murdered ; men were placed on prison ships, 



78 STORY OF 

where they were chained in dungeons and allowed 
to starve. Sir Henry Clinton had proceeded South 
to superintend these things in person, and was able 
to steal for himself and his officers as much as a 
million dollars from the innocent people. Fi- 
nally, Sir Henry, with a large part of his victor- 
ious army, started for New York, leaving Lord 
Comwallis in the South. While he was pressing 
his way northward, here the Baron deKalb, with a 
large force, was on his way toward Charleston 
to reinforce the suffering inhabitants. As he 
pressed through Virginia, scores of patriots joined 
the ranks until the Baron's troops had swelled in- 
to a splendid army. The legion which he led 
forth from New York, grew larger and lager, 
liking a rolling snow ball, as it proceeded on its 
march of rescue. The Baron did not know that 
Charleston had fallen, and he hoped to reach the 
scene in time to save the city. But before he had 
crossed the southern boundary of Virginia, he 
heard the alarming newi^. And from the north, 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 79 

came tidings still more unfortunate, as he, in his 
heart, well knew — the news that General Horatio 
Gates, the victor of Saratoga and the conqueror 
of Burgoyne, still in the flush and glory of his re- 
cent triumphs in the north, had been appointed 
commander-in-chief of all the southern forces, 
and was on his way to take command. 

If the Baron deKalb had been allowed to pio- 
ceed as the commander of the Southern Army^ 
the sad events which I must now relate would 
never have occurred. Gates was a vainglorious 
and jealous man, without patriotism and without 
honor. His head was turned by his good luck 
and he fancied himself a great deliverer, wiser 
even than General Washington, whom he tried 
in every way to supersede. 

DeKalb was ordered to proceed into North 
Carolina, and there await the arrival of his chief. 



CHAPTER XI 



GEN. GATES CHANGES HIS MIND 




T 



HE Continental 
Congress thought 
that General Gates was a 
very extraordinary man. 
He was allowed to report 
his plans and movements 
directly to that body, and 
not to General Washing- 
ton, as was the custom of the other generals. 
Such a wonderful impression had he made by his 
extravagant talk and pompous claims that there 
had been a secret scheme put forth to make him 
the commander-in-chief of all the Continental 
forces. It failed because there were a few great 
men in Congress wise enough to know that his 
pretensions were a sham; that he was neither pa- 

10 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 81 

triotic enough nor honest enough, nor brave 
enough to bring the war to a successful close. 
But he was a great favorite with a few who had 
been dazzled by his imposing presence, and by the 
influence of these he had been appointed to con- 
duct with full authority the southern campaign. 

After a long and weary march, attended by 
much suffering and hunger, the troops of Baron 
deKalb encamped at Wilcox JNIills, on the banks 
of Deep River, where, before long, the high and 
mighty Gates arrived with a great flourish. The 
Baron deKalb received him with a salute of thir- 
teen guns, and all the honors which the new com- 
mander's rank, and his arrogant nature, seemed 
to require. The august warrior from the North 
then assumed command with great pomp, and 
the Baron deKalb took charge of a small division. 

It is said, indeed, that ttoe starving Southern 
Army, so much in need of military skill and calm 
and thoughtful judgment, so much in need of 
honest leadership just then, should have been de- 



82 STORY OF 

prived of one of the most scientific and skillful 
generals that the Congress had employed, and 
given to a man who acted not from patriotic mo- 
tives and for his country's good, but simply for 
display and personal renown. But so it was, 
and the fearful consequences which ensued are 
graven in our country's annals as one of the sad- 
dest and most needless f ailiu-es in the grand old 
war. 

After inspecting the troops, General Gates, 
without consultating any officers, amiounced 
that the weak and tired regiments, whom he called 
his "grand army," should be ready to proceed the 
following morning to Camden in South Carolina, 
where the well-drilled British Army was encamp- 
ed. At this startling order, his officers addressed 
a letter to him, reminding him of the bleak and 
barren country they must pass through, of the ab- 
sence of provisions and ammunition, of all the 
obstacles which were in the line of march, but their 
arguments and warnings were of no avail. Gen- 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 6^ 

eral Gates believed that as soon as the enemy 
heard of his approach, the frightened troops 
would turn in deadly fear and run away to 
Charleston with all their might and main. 

On the following morning, the long and diffi- 
cult march southward began. Food was scarce 
and the famishing soldiers were compelled to eat 
unripened com and half ripe fruit. Finally, 
the weary army arrived at Clermont, a few miles 
above the British camp. The Baron deKalb rec- 
commended that the Army be allowed to remain 
there until better fitted to proceed, but his voice 
was unheeded. 

"Where shall we dine tomorrow?" asked an 
officer of General Gates. 

*'Dine, sir," quoth the proud leader, "why, in 
the British camp, with Lord Cornwallis as our 
guest." 

That night, the army, leaving its baggage 
train behind, filed into line and pressed on silently 
toward the British camp. The night was clear 



84 



STORY OF 




After a long and weary march attended by much suffering and 
hunger, the troops of Baron deKalb encamped at Wilcox Mills. 

Page 81. 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 85 

and warm, and not a sound could be heard save 
the drowsy hum of insects, as the Continental 
Army made its way through the soft and yielding 
sand. The heat was intense, and many men sank 
fainting by the way. But the legions under Gen- 
eral Gates pressed on. 

Meanwhile, Lord CornwaUis yriih his army 
was marching northward to attack the colonial 
forces at Clermont, where he knew that they had 
paused. His idea was to surprise them at sun- 
rise. A colhsion of these two armies took place 
before daTVTi. In a glade of pine trees about 
halfway between the two camps, the first pale 
light of morning found the army of King George 
the Third brought face to face with the American 
patriots in line of march. A brisk skirmish 
took place immediately; there was a panic in the 
American lines and the foremost regiments gave 
way. But the light inf antn^ of the colonial army 
held its own, and drove the British back. And 
then both armies paused; the smoke died down; 



86 STORY OF 

the air was still, as slowly the bright morning 
sun rose above the horizon and poured its dazzling 
radiance down upon the waiting legions. The 
Americans had taken a few prisoners during the 
skirmish in the dusk, and from these it was 
learned that Lord Cornwallis himself was at the 
head of the British troops, and that their numbers 
were vast. When General Gates learned of this, 
he was amazed. 

"Let a council be called at once," said he. 

The messenger with whom he had spoken and 
to whom he had given the command, hastened 
to the Baron deKalb. 

"Did not the commanding general at once 
order a retreat?" asked the Baron. He was told 
that General Gates was very much surprised, and 
scarcely knew what to do. 

"He knows our condition," said the Baron de- 
Kalb. And the messenger departed. Soon the 
council met in the rear of the American lines. 

"You know our situation, gentlemen," said 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 87 

General Gates. "What had we better do? The 
victory does not look so sure." 

The Baron deKalb was silent. Twice had he 
offered a soldier's advice, and twice had it been 
scornfully rejected. He glared at the com- 
mander but said nothing. There was an awkward 
pause, for every officer felt that General Gates 
was responsible for the difficulty they were in. 
And Gates himself was nervous and uncertain. 

"What had we better do?" he now repeated. 

"Why, we must fight, I suppose," said an offi- 
cer, "there seems nothing else to do." 

"We must fight, then," said General Gates. 
"Gentlemen, to your posts." 



CHAPTER XII 



CONGRESS CHANGES ITS OPINION 




w 



HEN the sun had 
risen well above 
the distant hills, and the 
day was fairly on, the 
fight began. The British 
veterans made a fearful 
onslaught and the Amer- 
ican regiments of Vir- 
ginia and Carolina, unable to stand before the 
force and numbers of Cornwallis' men, gave way 
and fled. 

"I will bring the rascals back with me into line," 
shouted General Gates, and leaving his import- 
ant duties, he galloped after them far to the rear 
leaving the American regiments to conduct the 
battle as best they could. 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 89 

Was he afraid to remain at the front? We do 
not know; but this we do know; that it was quite 
a common thing for him to have important bus- 
iness in the rear when firing began. 

He did not stop riding until he was sixty miles 
behind the battle. 

And now our hero, the brave deKalb, occupies 
the center of the stage. Amid the tumult and 
confusion of an army left without its general, in 
the heat of battle, the veteran of the Seven Years' 
War rode boldly to the front and took command. 
Gathering all the scattered forces about him, he 
led them bravely to the charge. Always at the 
front, in the midst of shot and shell, his great fig- 
ure could be seen encouraging the men and creat- 
ing wonder and dismay within the British lines. 
Careless of death, fearless of cannon and bayonet, 
he fought with a desperation and a gallantry 
which will be a glory to his splendid name as long 
as history lasts. Amid the din and roar of tliat 
fearful battle, his lusty voice rose up like thunder. 



90 STORY OF 

sending forth commands and urging his sturdy 
followers on to victory. The sword which swung 
above his head was dripping with blood, Elis 
keen eye flashed. Three times was the gallant 
baron forced back, and three times did he lead the 
patriots forth again. In one of these assaults his 
horse was shot down. In another his head was 
laid open with a British sword. A soldier bound 
the ugly wound for the fearless general, and he 
fought on. 

Having no horse, he led the next assault on foot 
He received eleven wounds, and still he fought. 
But now, Cornwallis, concentrating all his 
stength in a final charge, rode forward and the 
American lines broke before the awful attack. 
The scene which followed was bloody and terrific. 
In the midst of it, the Baxon deKalb fell bleeding 
to the ground. 

"The rebel general! the rebel general!" shouted 
the enemy, as they saw him fall, and rushing for- 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 91 

ward, some British soldiers tried to stab him with 
their bayonets. 

"Spare the Baron deKalb!" called the general's 
aide, rushing to where the bleeding hero lay, but 
his cry sounded on deaf ears. The brutal Eng- 
lish soldiers reaised the helpless warrior from the 
ground and standing him against a tree, began to 
search him. They were holding him up, in this 
way, and mocking the brave life that was ebbing 
fast away, when suddenly the crowd broke; the 
soldiers dropped the dying general to the ground ; 
a dead silence prevailed; and Lord Cornwalhs 
rode up and jumping from his horse, grasped the 
rebel general by the hand. 

"I am glad I have defeated you," said the Brit- 
ish leader, "but I am exceedingly sorry to see you 
wounded so." 

He then gave orders to have the baron properly 
cared for, and the wounded patriot was carried 
from the field. Three days later, on the nine- 
tenth of August, 1780, he died among sorrowing 



92 STORY OF 

friends, and even the British ojfficers who had 
fought against him, sent messages of S5rmpathy 
and regret into the American camp. Just before 
he died, the gallant general raised his head, and 
speaking with much difficulty, asked his faithful 
adjutant, who was standing near, to thank the 
brave men who had fought so nobly under his com- 
mand, and to bid them an affectionate farewell. 

The Battle of Camden was a victory for the 
British, but it was also the end of General Gates 
with all his pompous claims and lordly bearing. 
He was held responsible by Congress, as he should 
have been, for the unwise advance upon the larger 
and better forces of his adversary, and was sus- 
pended from the Continental Army. 

Beneath the shadow of a spreading tree near 
the spot on which the sad and bloody struggle 
had been waged, far from his native land and his 
adopted home in France, where wife and children 
waited his return, the patriot and soldier was laid 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 93 

to rest towards the close of the glorious War for 
Independence, and before its end was known. 

In the year 1820, when another war with Eng- 
land had been fought and won, the staunch old 
tree, grand and majestic, standing firm and un- 
daunted in the midst of wind and storm, as he had 
stood before the veteran legions of King George, 
was the only monument which marked the lonely 
spot where the illustrious and valiant hero lay. 
Shorty afterward, however, a stone memorial was 
begun at Camden, and when the Marquis de 
Lafayette visited the new republic in 1825, he was 
asked to lay the comer stone of this grateful trib- 
ute which the people of a free country were erect- 
ing to the memory of his brave companion and 
beloved friend. 

Perhaps the sorrow and regret which the gallant 
Frenchman felt at the thought that he would 
never see again the features of his military bro- 
ther, were lessened by the knowledge of the glor- 
ious work which both of them had done, and a 



94 STORY OF 

feeling that if the cause in which the Baron 
fought were worth hving for, then surely it was 
worth dying for, and that such a death would be 
for ever a glorious and loving memory in our 
land. No doubt he felt throughout the solemn 
ceremony that the noble sacrifice was worth while, 
and had been gladly made by him whose name 
and actions they were honoring. 



The grand old War for Independence brought 
much grief and sorrow, with all its grand results, 
for it meant the saddening of many lowly homes, 
and the parting forever of many friends. When 
it ended, some whose arms and voices had been 
bravely raised for freedom in those seven fearful 
years, rested, as we know, in quiet graves, and 
others took themselves to foreign lands from 
whence they came, to live in peace, or to fight in 
other wars, as the brave young Lafayette was still 
destined to do in turbulent and troubled France. 
Perhaps, as he took his final leave of all the 



GENERAL (BARON) DeKALB 95 

friends whom he had come to know* so well and 
love so dearly in the new land of the free, he felt 
a secret wish within his heart that the war were 
not yet closed, that he might have still some small 
excuse to stay his parting ; even as an author feels 
when he sees the familiar figures, in their quaint 
old cockade hats and ribboned shoes, with whom 
he has been mingling, fading in the distance ; the 
glorious fields of ancient battles disappearing in 
the mist ; when he realizes that his last tale is more 
than told, but lingers still, scarce knowing what 
to say, but loath to close, and finally takes his pen 
once more — as a host might stand upon his porch 
and wave his handkerchief to a departing friend — 
to take a final leave of his circle of young readers. 



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